1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of inventory tracking, and more particularly to a system and method for tracking information handling system parts shipped for remote inventory management.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems are often assembled from a number of component parts, including software and peripherals, which interact to communicate, print or otherwise process information. For instance, a typical information handling system has a housing that internally supports a motherboard coupled to components such as a central processing unit, random access memory, and various microcontrollers and busses. Other components internal to the housing typically interface with the motherboard either to handle information, such as hard disc drives, optical disc drives and network interface cards or to provide operating functions such as power and cooling. Generally, the housing has a number of ports that interface with external components, such as monitors and printers. Information handling system components are sometimes interchangeable, such as video cards that comply with the VGA standard, and are sometimes built to perform specialized functions with specific equipment, such as ink jet cartridges that work with limited types of ink jet printers. Often, businesses that maintain a number of information handling systems to support employees also maintain an inventory of components to allow rapid repair of information handling systems that suffer a component failure. Business also typically maintain an inventory of information handling system peripheral consumables, such as ink jet cartridges and toner, to replace these consumables as needed without substantially interrupting operation of the peripherals.
Maintaining an inventory of components, including consumables, presents a significant challenge to a business. Generally, a business will track components with an inventory management system to ensure an adequate and timely supply and to reduce theft of what are often expensive parts. Inventory management systems typically provide indications to a business' information technology staff when a particular component reaches a low inventory level so that the staff may replenish the inventory. Generally, information technology staff orders the components from the manufacturer of the information handling systems for delivery by various third party vendors, such as Federal Express or United Parcel Services. For instance, components are often ordered through the Internet by submitting an order at a Web site or through e-mail.
Once the components arrive, they are entered into the inventory management system with appropriate identification information, such as part number, the quantity in a shipment, and the quantity actually available by a physical inventory count in a defined location. Generally, in order to track components having the same part number, a unique identifier is generated at the business, such as a barcode sticker having a unique serial number that is affixed to packages as the packages arrive. The inventory management system or a related tool creates the sticker so that the information technology staff may take physical inventory counts and track replenishment and consumption of inventory with a scanner device. However, the creation of additional identifiers for inventory increases the complexity of tracking inventory and thus the chances of errors. Further, internally created inventory numbers do not correspond with vendor invoice or shipper tracking numbers, thus making automated communication of inventory information more difficult. For instance, information technology staff typically must correlate order numbers to an air bill and an internal number in order to confirm receipt of ordered inventory. Although this problem is aggravated with information handling system inventory management due to the diversity of components, similar difficulties arise in tracking other types of inventory.